Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, aka Katy Perry, is an American singer, television personality, and songwriter. Her parents, Maurice Keith Hudson and Mary Christine (Perry), had a wild youth before turning to religion and becoming pastors. Katy belongs to a family of directors and singers.
For instance, Katy’s uncle and mother’s brother, Frank Perry, were American stage directors and filmmakers. She has an older sister, Angela, and a brother, David, who is a singer. Born in October 1984, Katy grew up with a strict and financially struggling family.
Katy’s music is a collection of disco, gospel, rock, and pop, which focuses on self-empowerment. She prioritizes honest songwriting and considers herself a singer-songwriter before a pop star. She has a contralto vocal range and has been praised and criticized for that.
Katy was praised for her beautiful body by GQ, Elle, and Vice. She was the Sexiest Woman of 2013, according to Men’s Health readers. She wears eye-catching clothes with bright colors, humor, and food-related themes, and she shined at the California Dreams Tour in 2011 through her signature spinning peppermint swirl dress.
Katy Perry’s Early Life And Career
The rock artists Jennifer Knapp and Steve Thomas spotted Katy and brought her to Nashville to nourish her music skills. However, her debut album became commercially unsuccessful in the beginning. Thus, she turned from gospel music to secular and joined the producer Glen Ballard.
Katy’s debut album was titled ‘Katy Hudson.’ Later, she started performing as Katheryn Perry. However, she finalized her stage name, ‘Katy Perry,’ to not clash with the actress Kate Hudson.
Katy was not successful till 2007. Her first single with Capitol, ‘I Kissed A Girl,’ turned controversial and successful. Her album, ‘One Of The Boys,’ had over seven million copies sold internationally. It bagged the ninth position on the Billboard 200 in 2008.
Katy supported ‘One Of The Boys by going on her first world tour, Hello Katy Tour, from January to November 2009. She hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards. Further, she appeared as the guest judge in American Idol and The X Factor (British) in 2010.
Katy recorded a song, ‘California Gurls,’ featuring Snoop Dog and released it in May 2010. Her third studio album, ‘Teenage Dream,’ bagged the first position on Billboard 200 with over six million copies sold internationally. This album brought her success.
Katy became the second artist after Michael Jackson and the first female artist to give five top Billboard Hot 100 songs through a single album. She remained in the position for sixty-nine weeks in a row. The album Teenage Dream brought her a Guinness World Record in 2013 and an American Music Award in 2011.
Katy has co-written songs recorded by singers such as Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Rita Ora, Lesley Roy, and more. She became the most-followed person on Twitter in November 2013 and got a Guinness World record in 2015.
Katy contributed to the films by playing as a voice artist in The Smurfs (2011 and 2013), an American fantasy adventure comedy film. After that, she starred in her autobiographical film, Katy Perry: Part Of Me, in 2012.
Katy appeared for an interview for a documentary, Brand: A Second Coming, about her ex-husband, Russell Brand. The 104-minute-long film was released in 2015. She released a live video album, The Prismatic World Tour Live, representing her tour of the same name in 2015.
Another documentary shows Katy’s hundred hours of preparation for the Super Bowl performance in 2015. She appeared in Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer (2015), the documentary film about Jeremy Scott’s journey in the fashion industry.
Katy appeared as herself in Zoolander 2 (2016), an American action comedy film co-written, co-produced, starred, and directed by Ben Stiller. In December 2011, she hosted Saturday Night Live and was praised for her performance in the episode.
Katy launched two fragrances, Purr and Meow!, in November 2010 and December 2011, respectively, through Nordstrom Department Stores. In July 2012, she became an investor, ambassador, and spokesperson for Popchips, an American brand of corn products and popped potatoes.
The Prismatic Katy began working on her fourth album, Prism, in November 2012. She wanted to craft every detail on her own and add darker elements due to her separation from Russell Brand in 2012.
Katy considers her sister Angela, Amy Grant, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Madonna, Jonatha Brooke, Freddie Mercury, the Beach Boys, and The Beatles as a source of inspiration.
On the other hand, several artists such as Doja Cat, BTS, Maren Morris, Baba Sehgal, Rina Sawayama, Little Mix, Troye Sivan, and Marina Diamandis were influenced by Katy’s work. She gets involved in charity, especially for children’s well-being and education. She also supported organizations helping people suffering from AIDS, cancer, and other diseases.
Katy opposed animal cruelty by setting up a donation page on her twenty-seventh birthday. She also helped the Manchester Arena bombing victims by performing for their benefit.
Personal Life
Reportedly, Katy dated Justin York when she was only seventeen. She was in a relationship with Matt Thiessen from 2003 to 2005. Katy dated Johnny Lewis, who died from falling from a rooftop after allegedly killing his landlord in 2012, from 2005 to 2006. Katy and Travie McCoy were in a serious relationship from 2006 to 2008 until she ended things via email.
Katy married English presenter and comedian Russell Brand in Rajasthan, India, according to a traditional Hindu Ceremony in 2008. They met on the sets of ‘Get Him To The Geek’ in 2008 and 2009 MTV Video Music Awards the following year.
However, they separated after fourteen months due to conflicting schedules and his wish to have babies with her. On the other hand, Russell said he divorced due to her success and no engagement in activism.
Shortly after divorcing Russell, Katy dated Robert Ackroyd, the Florence And The Machine band’s guitarist, till 2012. Katy was reportedly in an on-and-off relationship with John Mayer, an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, from August 2012. Finally, they broke in February 2014.
Diplo and Katy were spotted getting closer during the Amazing Spider-Man 2 premiere. However, their relationship was never confirmed. Katy and Orlando Bloom met in 2013 and got into a relationship in 2016. They engaged in February 2019, and their daughter, Daisy Dove, arrived in 2020.
Katy thinks she has a multipersonality disorder in the case of fashion and keeps experimenting with her style. Moreover, she sees Natalie Portman, Shirley Manson, Daphne Guinness, and Chloë Sevigny as her style icons.
Katy Perry’s Net Worth
According to Forbes, Katy Perry’s Net Worth is $400 Million in 2023. Litmus Music co-founded Hank Forsyth and purchased music rights from Katy for $225 million in September 2023, which significantly contributed to her net worth. Thus, Katy entered the list of the wealthiest self-made women in America.
Katy’s income varied from $30 million to $50 million every year between 2009 and 2014 due to her endorsements, album sales, touring, and merchandise. Her earnings increased to $135 million between 2014 and 2015 before she could spend on her lifestyle, lawyers, taxes, and agents.
ABC revived American Idol in March 2018. Katy got $15 million to host the first season and $25 million to host the second. In mid-2019, a jury in California sued Katy for allegedly copying a track, ‘Joyful Noise,’ sung by Flame, without his permission. Accordingly, Katy had to pay $550,000.
Katy began hosting a concert residency under a contract worth $168 million in November 2021, and the concert is expected to end in November 2023. In 2014, Katy got a deal to purchase the 8.5-acre Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese property worth $14.5.
However, the nuns residing in the property got another buyer who would play a slightly higher amount, and one of the nuns died. Thus, Katy is struck in a years-long court battle over property. She purchased a mansion worth $18 million in Beverly Hills in 2014 and sold it at the same price in March 2022.
Katy purchased another mansion in Beverly Hills in 2018 for $7.5 million and sold it in 2020 for $8 million. She sold two houses in LA’s Runyon Canyon in 2019 for a combined $12.5 million.
Katy purchased a junior penthouse worth $11 million in Los Angeles’s Sierra Towers in May 2023. It is a 3000-square-foot condo with three bathrooms and two bedrooms. Jen Kao, the daughter of billionaire Min Kao, purchased the property for $9.3 million in 2016 and sold it to Katy this year.
Katy and her beau, Orlando Bloom, purchased a 9-acre property worth $14.2 million in Montecito, California, in October 2020. Katy’s second tour, California Dream Tour, grossed $59.5 million internationally.
Katy’s autobiographical documentary, Katy Perry: Part Of Me, was released in theatres in 2012 and made a box office collection of $32.7 million internationally. Her third concert tour, Prismatic World Tour, grossed $204.3 million internationally in 2015.
